Boose

Will has a book called the "The Little Red Caboose." He calls it "Boose." He loves to read about the "Boose" and points it out eagerly on each page. He calls other trains "Choo Choos." Every night, when M gives him his tubby, they play with his tubby "Choo Choo." From all the way downstairs, I can hear "Choooooooooo Chooooooooo" in both Big and Little voices. It never fails to make me smile.

Today, on his way to work, M saw a red caboose sitting on the train tracks near his office. It had been there yesterday, too. He called me and suggested that I bring Will down so we could see the "boose" during his lunch hour (there is a parking lot right next to the tracks, so we could easily see the caboose).

We picked M up and drove to where the caboose had been sitting. . . just in time to see it pulling away! Luckily, it had to move slowly, seeing as it was going through the downtown area during the lunchtime traffic.

We followed the train, managed to get ahead of it, and I pulled over to the side of the road in a gravel turn out. We grabbed Will from the car and with seconds to spare, the train came slowly chugging by. The conductor blew the horn and a few cars later the Red Caboose rumbled past, a man on board waving and another horn toot just for us. Will's eyes were the size of saucers, he was enchanted. For the rest of the day, all he said was "Choo Choo" and "Boose."

Looking back, it was kind of crazy, literally chasing down a train, then parking just in time to see it. But watching the excitement in my son's face as he saw his first real "Boose"?

It was one of the best moments of my life.